Carlin Inducted into McKeesport Hall of Fame
By Janet Stidman Eveleth
On October 14, MSBA Executive Director Paul V. Carlin returned to his hometown
of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to be inducted into the McKeesport High School
Hall of Fame. Carlin, who was honored in 2005 for 20 years of exemplary service
as MSBA’s Executive Director, was recognized for dedicating his life
to the law, furthering the goals and the reach of the legal profession and
making legal services more widely available to all segments of the population.
A member of the class of 1963, Carlin, along with six other distinguished alumni,
was saluted by McKeesport High School Alumni and Friends Association during
its 19th Alumni Recognition Night.
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Everyone’s
hometown and
roots are special
to them, so it is a
great honor and a
special feeling to
be selected and
inducted into
McKeesport’s
Hall of Fame.
Paul V. Carlin
MSBA Executive Director
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“Everyone’s hometown and roots are special to them,” states
Carlin, “so it is a great honor and a special feeling to be selected
and inducted into McKeesport’s Hall of Fame.” A graduate of the
Dickinson School of Law of Pennsylvania State University in 1970, Carlin has
devoted 31 years to bar associations, public service and the advancement of
the legal profession. He began his bar association career as the Philadelphia
Bar Association’s Director of Legal Services in 1975, where he founded
the Senior LAW Center, now the largest provider of legal services to the elderly
in Philadelphia, and co-founded the 59th Street Legal Clinic.
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From left to right: MSBA
Executive Director Paul V. Carlin, his wife Hildegarde and their
daughter, Kristana attend Carlin's induction into the McKeesport
(PA) Hight School Hall of Fame on October 14, 2006
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Carlin also served as the District of Columbia Bar’s Director of Public
Service Activities and the Executive Director of both the Bar Association of
Baltimore City and the Connecticut Bar Association before joining MSBA as its
Executive Director on March 1, 1985. MSBA consisted of 10,000 members, with
a support staff of 18, when Carlin arrived, and today boasts of 22,200 members
and 27 staff members, offering a plethora of member services, benefits and
programs. Under Carlin’s outstanding executive leadership, MSBA has made
great strides and attained many distinguished hallmarks in the last 21 years.
A past president of the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE), Carlin
was honored with NABE’s esteemed Bolton Award for Professional Excellence,
the top national award given to a bar executive, in 1996. This award is given
to an executive “who demonstrates outstanding professional leadership
and effective management skills and displays humanitarianism, character, congeniality
and service to the community.” He was recently honored with the Maryland
Bar Foundation’s Award for Legal Excellence in the Advancement of Professional
Competence.
On McKeesport’s Alumni Recognition Night, Carlin, accompanied by his
family, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Carlin has a very special place
in his heart for his hometown, his fond memories of McKeesport and his beloved
Pittsburgh Steelers.
“After three preceding generations of my family had worked in the same
steel mill in McKeesport – US Steel’s National Tube Works – I
was fortunate to be encouraged to attend college and law school and to become
a lawyer,” said Carlin in his acceptance speech.
“After three years in Europe, I returned with the intention to become
active with public interest law somehow,” he continued. “I was
fortunate to match up with the Philadelphia Bar Association’s strong
interest in access to the legal system and the delivery of legal services to
the poor and middle class. I was able to continue that interest with the DC
Bar’s Office of Public Service Activities, the MSBA and the Pro Bono
Resource Center.”
“My involvement with these access issues over the years has provided
a great deal of satisfaction and fulfillment of the intention I started with
over 30 years ago,” Carlin adds. MSBA congratulates its Executive Director
on this special honor.
